Using a single command, we can easily upload any files from our computers or servers to a web server. Then, our friends and colleagues can download them directly from web browsers. Isn’t that cool?

Worried about the security? We can encrypt files before transfer. Also, we can claim the files can only be download once, or expire in several days. Here we go! Let's explore how transfer.sh file-sharing can be easy and fast from the command-line.

Problems With Current File Transfer

Working in DevOps, I occasionally need to transfer files:

Temporarily copy critical backup set from one server to another.

Collect some log files and send back to the Dev team.

Usually, I use SCP to do the copy. Apparently, we only SCP via a key file instead of a password. To achieve that, I need to store my SSH private key in the server. This certainly brings in some security concerns. Yes, I can protect my SSH key with a passphrase. Even better, I can delete it immediately after I have finished the download. Hmm…that's just a bit tricky, and includes too many manual steps.

When I’m asked to copy and share some log files, I usually SCP them to my laptop, then send them over via Slack or Skype. Let’s say the file is around 500 MB. Literally speaking, we need to download 500 MB data, then send 500 MB data. Manually! This would take a lot of time for a doggy network, wouldn't it? Even worse, if the transfer interrupts, our colleagues will definitely ping us to send it again.